Monthly Roundup – October 2018

Welcome back to the Trident Monthly round-up!

The aim of these monthly posts is to keep you abreast of all the weird and wonderful news and insights to come out of the world of marketing. Every month, our team will pick our favourite campaigns, brand insights and marketing trends that you can use to enhance your marketing knowledge or even as inspiration to delight your audience.

So let’s get cracking with our top stories from October:

Trident at SME Live

The Trident team made their way to the SME Live Expo at the NEC Arena in Birmingham, with our very own “pop-up tea shop” inspired stand. The quirky stand managed to stand out amongst dozens of other stands at the expo thanks to its eye-catching design, and of course the fact that we really offered passersby a cup of tea and a friendly chat!

The impact of the stand was further amplified by our Account Director, Jordan Foster, who gave attendees a 30 minute deep dive presentation on “cutting through the noise and standing out from the crowd”. The presentation was well received by viewers and led some of them onto our stand, to find out what we do.

WeightWatchers becomes WW

Weight loss brand Weightwatchers have just rebranded to “WW “, removing the word weight from the name. This is aimed to shift its focus towards “wellness” as a whole, rather than just weight. The organisation which now has around 1.3million members who attend meetings worldwide has supported people on their weight loss journeys since it was founded in 1963. But it has announced it has stopped using its full name and unveiled a logo that simply says WW in a circle, as this broaden its remit. The Weight Watchers website states: “The name WW reflects that we’re becoming the world’s partner in wellness. “We will always be the global leader in weight loss, but now WW welcomes anyone who wants to build healthy habits—whether that means eating better, moving more, developing a positive mindset, focusing on weight…or all of the above!”

The company is using the tagline, “Wellness that Works”. We’re not big fans of the re-brand as we feel the name “WW” is not particularly memorable and sounds very similar to other well-known brands such as WWF. We will have to wait and see what impact the rebrand has on the companies fortunes in the coming months…

(Source: Design Week)

BBC Radio 1 Goes For a Youthful Rebrand

The BBC is facing growing pressure from streaming services that are able to outspend it, with the director general, Tony Hall, saying the corporation needed more cash to maintain the current quality of programmes. Things change over the course of five decades, and the BBC recently considered the fact that Radio 1 has extended far beyond its original remit — becoming “a super brand with multiple sub-brands like Live Lounge, Biggest Weekend and Teen Awards” — and as such was in need of a clear branding system and “a contemporary new graphic language.” BBC Radio 1 has been around for more than 50 years, transmitting popular music and programmes over the airwaves and aiming to “entertain and engage” a target audience of 15-29-year-olds. Ther re-design is specifically target towards that young audience who the BBC hopes will ‘grow up’ with the channel over the years. The new branding is definitely youthful and gives the radio station a vibrant feel, it will be interesting to see if the re-brand has the desired effect.

Banksy Marketing

A few weeks ago, the elusive English street artist Banksy, whose identity is kept secret, posted a video on Instagram showing him putting the shredder into the picture’s frame, explaining he did so in case it was ever put up for auction. The artist was true to his word, when surprised an auction house (and raised eyebrows worldwide) by shredding his own painting after it was sold. Banksy then posted an image of the shredding on Instagram captioned “Going, going, gone…”. After the sale, the auction house acknowledged that the self-destruction of the work was a prank by the artist. The prank received wide news coverage around the world, with one newspaper stating that it was “quite possibly the biggest prank in art history”.

Many companies have jumped on the hype train of this viral story by creating their own “shredded art”. McDonald’s were one of the first to react by creating an upside down Fries carton being shredded into chips. Other companies such as Ikea and Lidl also made similar artworks to share on their social media. This allows the brand to stay relevant and stay top of mind for consumers by reacting in almost real-time to news.

VW Beetle’s Last Hurrah

The VW Beetle Will Be No More In 2019. Volkswagen is ending production of its Beetle in 2019, closing the door on one of the world’s most iconic car designs. But VW are making sure the iconic range goes out in style, with their usual minimalist yet impactful visuals. The company is already thought to have reviewed a possible model revamp and options for electric versions in recent years, before deciding on its abandonment.

The print campaign portrays the “top off” feature of the cabriolet by taking the top off of the VW logo. A simple yet brilliant print campaign, in typical VW style: minimal and understated.

Thanks for reading our October round-up, make sure to keep an eye out for our next one in November!